The Dreamer and The Demon
by Melthememe
Summary: Dipper learns he has supernatural powers and must learn to control them for the good of his family. (2): "For the record, I don't trust you." Dipper felt as though he had to make the point of saying that. "Good instincts," Bill replied with a smirk. "I wouldn't trust me, either."
1. A Deal's A Deal

Based on the comic written by modmad on tumblr that pretty much ruined my life ( post/98161859400/well-what-did-ya-expect-in-an-opera-a-happy). Posted on ao3. Also kind of a gift fic for an author friend of mine. Here's to you, awesomenesshasar.

May or may not write a continuation to this. I really like the idea. This was written rly early this morning, so forgive me if there are any grammatical errors lol

.*~*.

Time seemed to slow down. Whether it was to grant him the chance to attempt to save one of them, or just to mock him and show it all to him one frame of life at a time, he didn't know.

"_Cipher_!" Stan bellowed. A bright blue flame appeared in his hand. The world became gray and warped as time slowed down even further as he entered the Dreamscape. He sensed a presence behind him and spun around, full of fury. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Hey, not my fault the kid made a deal with me!" A snarky voice called. A dark cloud appeared in front of Stan and a tall, dark-skinned man with bleached hair appeared in front of him. This was the form Bill took when Stan had last seen him. Perhaps he chose this form to specifically unhinge him, the old man thought. None of that mattered now, though. The past was in the past. What mattered now was the future.

What mattered was Dipper and Mabel.

The man cackled. "You know how it is," he said, suddenly pulling out a scroll from his yellow suitcoat. His eyes skimmed it impatiently, one of them glowing a dull red. "All new contracts made that violate previous ones _nullify_ them, as well."

"How was I supposed to know with you... you... trying to bewitch him?" The man growled, his fist clenching. Another large burst of blue flames appeared. "We had a deal. You leave _me_ alone. You leave _them_ alone. That was the plan."

"Hey, moot point, now. Besides, Pine Tree was the one who made a deal with me," Bill scowled, his red eye glaring harshly in the theatre lights. The scroll disappeared with a puff of smoke. "But, wow, how could I pass it up?" He snapped his fingers and Dipper's lifeless body appeared between the two of them. Stan resisted the urge to reach for him, because this was Bill in front of him and who knows what he would do.

The demon collected Dipper's body with a surprising amount of care. "I mean, look at this!" The demon let his hand glow bright blue with fire and set it on Dipper's forehead. Stan didn't stop him. He already knew what it would do. The flames wouldn't burn him.

They instead spread across the boy's body, encompassing it as a whole. Bill giggled in a way that made almost reminded Stan of his last nuisance, Gideon. "You made a deal with me way back when for those powers. Who knew they would skip a generation, and become a part of this little guy? Wonder if it's the same with Shooting Star..."

Bill laughed again, rocking on the balls of his his feet, cradling Stan's unconscious great nephew. The blue flames were harmless to Dipper, but Stan couldn't help clenching his fists in anger when they didn't recede. "When he was able to enter your memory, that's when I figured it out. No ordinary person could have done that. And his little scheme to throw me out of your mind? It didn't work, but it certainly surprised me! This kid is more genius than you give him credit for!"

"I don't give him credit for running off and doing stupid things that put himself and others in danger," Stan snapped, becoming impatient with the other's taunting. He wanted to wrap this up. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was afraid Dipper could actually hear him, that he was barely conscious and could hear every word of this conversation. It would be just like Bill to pull that kind of trick.

"He's a demon, Stan, thanks to you. A demon made to fight Dreamers like me." The demon pinched Dipper's cheek, let go of him, and the body disappeared with a poof. "He'll be fine, though. He's springy! All little boys are. And little girls. Tell you what, as a little gift from me to you, I'll minimize their damage. Even pay the hospital bill! In fact, I could give you almost anything..."

The Dreamer extended his hand, flashing a toothy grin. "Tick-tock, time's tickin' away!" A large grandfather clock appeared behind Stan and boomed loudly. In it, he could see the image of Dipper and Mabel's still forms and the rest of the audience, staring on in horror. The gray of the world began to fade.

"I'll never make a deal with you, ever again," Stan declared more boldly than he thought himself to be capable of.

"Oh, right! Cause you don't have anything else to bargain with! After your brother-"

Stan gave him such a vicious glare that Bill became silent. Only for a second, however. "Y'know, I am still bound by his contract. I promised to give him the password... And I will! Maybe to the laptop, maybe to someplace else. Point is, Stan, your contract was old news. I can't leave, not until I enlighten Dipper with that password. So, I'm sure I'll see you sometime soon! Which means, of course, your little buddies will be up and running around again in no time! And until then..."

A large wheel appeared behind the man and his human form flashed and fused with his true form. He no longer had a mouth, but his cackle rang through the air like the final toll of the grandfather clock. "_I'll be watching_!"

Stan rushed down from the catwalk as the gray of the world began to disappear. He took his place on stage, ready to play the caring, clueless great uncle he had become accustomed to over the summer. But he didn't have to fake concern when he ran over to Mabel's limp body.

Mabel's arm was bent in an odd direction, but she seemed to be only unconscious. Her chest rose and fell a little unsteadily, her eyes shut tight in pain. The old man held in tears and brushed back the hair from her face. She had landed in a convienently placed pile of sock puppets.

As color returned to the world, alarmed cries rose. Mabel's friends, Candy and Grenda, rushed over to her with surprised shouts. The theatre would get whipped up into a fury of confusion and concern, so Stan had to act fast before he was bombarded with questions from everyone.

"Call an ambulance," he said to the two of him, his voice leaving no room for debate. He ignored the questions thrown at him from the children, from Soos and Wendy who were climbing up the stage and trying to figure out what happened. He had to find Dipper, now.

He walked across the short stage to a shadow he saw in the curtains. Dipper was tangled in ropes with the rest of the sandbags near midstage traveller. The rope wrapped around his ankle, which appeared bent as Mabel's arm, must have saved him from falling to his death. Stan was sure that it was broken, just one of the many injuries his great nephew seemed to have endured. His breathing was more slight than Mabel's. Yes, he was breathing. Stan knew that for sure that. After what Bill said, he knew the demon wouldn't let those two die so easily.

What bothered him was how intricate the ropes were draped around him. Dipper looked like a fly caught in a spider's web. He was a puppet being controlled by unseen forces. This was Bill's subtle message of saying, _This boy is mine. He's my puppet. He is mine to control, and he will obey me. Or else..._

The not so subtle message in it all was the rope loosely coiled around Dipper's neck.


	2. Dressed In Black

The new episode inspired me to get off my lazy ass and finish writing this. It's meant as a companion piece to "A Deal's A Deal", but can be read as a standalone. I'm going to be writing more to accompany this piece, but they'll be snippets of ideas rather than a cohesive chapter story. Then again, that might change. Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading this! Also, the title was inspired by the song "Dressed In Black" by Sia, which is a good song that you should go listen to right now.

Dedicated once again to awesomenesshasar.

* * *

Dipper stared at the figure in front of him, his mind whirling faster and faster with each passing second. Stan's brother. The first cohesive thought that came to mind was that this man was his grandfather. He had never met his grandparents. Now he understood why.

Stan's brother let out a heavy sigh. He adjusted his glasses, surveying the scene. He took in the destruction behind him and the children in front of him. "Stanford," he finally said. His voice was tentative and, dare he say, suspicious.

Stan got to his feet, shakily dusting himself off. He coughed, unsure of what to say. Dipper's eyes flicked between the two men, unsure of whom he was more afraid. "Good to see you, Stanley," his great uncle finally said.

"I can see you ignored my advice, as usual, and opened the portal." He didn't seem the least bit bothered the possible end of the world. Just annoyed that his brother didn't listen to him. He pulled the journal from his cloak and thumbed through it idly. Dipper noted his six-fingered hand, the same hand on the front of the journal. "This place is certainly a mess, too."

"You're... Stan's brother?" asked Mabel softly.

Dipper had forgotten about his sister. He turned around and saw her staring at Stanley, open-mouthed and teary-eyed. Stanley smiled and returned the journal to his cloak, then outstretched his hand. "Who might you be?"

The boy acted fast, slapping the hand away from his sister. He stood in front of Mabel, fists clenched and eyes narrowed. "Stay away from her," he seethed.

He was so angry that it was melting every bone in his body. This fiery rage was consuming him. He wasn't sure where it was coming from, but the longer he looked at the brothers, the more furious he became.

"Dipper, calm down, Stanley would be the last person to hurt anyone, much less your sister." Stan assured him. "Trust me."

Dipper laughed, loud and long. "You're serious?" he near screamed. "You expect me to trust you?"

Mabel grabbed Dipper's hand. "Dip, please. We could just hear him out."

"You!" He spun around to Mabel. "How could you? This thing - this thing is a doomsday device! Or do you not get that? We're all gonna die, because of that stupid machine! Because of you!" He swatted her hand away, ignoring the hurt in her eyes. "And you!" He pointed at Stan. "For the good of this family? That's hilarious! You couldn't care less about Mabel and me! I knew it when I saw that memory, and I'm glad to see I was right about that! You couldn't care less about me!"

Dipper wanted to cry, scream, get louder and louder until the whole cavern burst. The sadder he became with joyful memories flooding his mind - late night movie marathons, mischievous pranks, helping out around the shack - the more he channeled that into his anger. It was kindling for the fire of betrayal; Stan had soaked it in gasoline and set the whole thing ablaze.

"Dipper, please!" Mabel exclaimed, tearing up once more. "We're both okay, we're here, we're okay! What's important is that we are both alive. If we just give Stan a chance, maybe-"

"Your sister's right, Dipper," Stan said quietly. "Give me a chance, okay?"

"I'd love to hear about this," Stanley said with a nod. "How badly did you screw up this time, Stan?"

"Shut your mouth," he snapped. "I didn't just risk everything just for you to be mouthing off at me for saving your life and dragging you out of there."

Stanley scoffed. "May I remind you that it was your fault I got stuck there in the first place?"

"Stop fighting, please," Mabel said wearily. "It's not getting us anywhere."

The clamoring, the arguing, it was all getting to his head. He was suffocating. He couldn't trust anyone here. Not Stanley, not Stan, not even Mabel. And then, someone got too close. Someone laid a hand on his shoulder or grabbed his hand or something and those memories overloaded him with emotion and his heart was shattered and the world was crumbling around him and Dipper

l o s t

h i s

m i n d

.

"_Stay the fuck AWAY from me_!" Dipper screamed. His vision went white. He heard his screaming echoing through the cavern. He wanted them all to disappear. He wanted to get away from here. He wanted it all gone.

When he next opened his eyes, all he saw was fire. Blue fire. Crystal blue flames flickering in front of his hand. No, on his hand. He was actually on fire - but it didn't hurt. Numbed him, yes, but that was all. He appreciated being unable to feel. He noted the flames spread across the rest of his skin and body and gathered at his feet in a small circle, surrounding him. Closing him in. It was a barrier between him and the rest of the world and made him feel better, somehow.

He stared up at the faces around him. Mabel was completely shocked, struggling to form words. Stan was silent, staring between Dipper and his brother. Stanley stared at Dipper. An unnamed fear crept into his eyes. He looked around the hideout wildly, calling out, "Where are you?"

Dipper was confused. Where was who? There was no one else here, except...

Dipper turned around to see Soos face down on the floor, unmoving. He had the urge to wake him, but was afraid of what the blue flames might do if he touched someone or something else other than himself.

Soos rose on his own, however. He turned around and faced Dipper. There was a strange look in his eyes. In fact, the eyes themselves were strange. Too wide, pupils thin as slits of paper, and a strange off-white color that wasn't just due to the lighting of the cavern.

"Bill," he said.

Instantly, the person in front of him became a blur of white. Dipper forced himself to watch as his friend changed into some unnamed man. He had dark skin and golden hair, matching his suit. He clutched a hooked cane, leaning heavily on it - Dipper wasn't sure if it was because he had to or if he was trying to fake them all out. A black eyepatch covered his left eye.

"Something's missing," the man said with a frown. The occupants of the cavern turned and gasped.

"Bill," Stan and Stanley said at the same time.

"Dipper!" Mabel said, grabbing her brother's arm and pulling him away. The blue flames remained on his body, but wherever Mabel touched, they disappeared, he noted with a frown.

"That's it!" He snapped his fingers and produced a tall top hat, placing it gently on top of his head. Bill smiled widely at the Pines family. "Good to see you all! Never thought I'd have the pleasure of being in the same place with all of you at once. Especially Stanley!"

He laughed and pushed Mabel and Dipper apart, forcing the latter behind him with his cane. Almost... protectively. "Stanley, you lucky bastard! Not many spirits can escape the Dreamscape. I certainly wouldn't think someone as spineless as you could." He raised an eyebrow at Stan. "You helped him, of course. I'm sure he's very grateful."

"Shut your mouth!" Stan snapped. "What happened back then doesn't matter now."

"Really? I'm sure Stanley is still sore about it." Bill grinned widely. "Stanley, what do you say? Want to take revenge on Stan and then let me take revenge on you? Revenge fest! All in good fun!"

"I don't trust my brother one bit." Stanley said after a long pause, "However, I trust you even less. My brother must have called me back for a good reason, if he was willing to risk so much."

"Ah, yes. Risking the well-being of others without their consent. Seems to be a Pines family trait, huh? Among other things." Bill tapped his cane impatiently against the ground.

"What do you mean?" Dipper and Mabel asked at the same time.

"Well, it's simple," Bill said with a shrug. "Your great uncle sold out his brother for the powers he possessed. Stanley lost his physical form and was banished to the Dreamscape."

Dipper tried to wrap his head around it. He knew it should be shocking, but he really couldn't muster the strength to process or even begin to care about it. "So what? Stan is a scumbag? I already knew that, thanks."

Bill let out roaring laughter. "This is why I like you, kid, you make a lot of sense. Well, of course, that's not all there is to it... Stanley had a family before that happened... They were devastated about the news. Especially his daughter. She spent a long time grieving. Eventually, though, she found a husband and decided to start a family, to carry on the Pines legacy. And wouldn't you know it, those powers that belonged to Stanley? They passed down to her. And then to her children. They were twins. However, the power only manifested in one of them... So far. Then some years passed, the mother decided to reach out to his brother and bury the hatchet, blah, blah, blah, and those kids came to stand right here and be have their lives unwillingly wagered in this mess!"

Bill's grin widened so that it split his face into a grimace. "Aren't grown-ups great?"

"What did you do to Soos?" Mabel demanded.

Bill frowned. "Star, I just exposed that your great uncle basically killed his brother for demon powers, and now Dipper has them. Aren't you the least bit interested in that?"

"I'm interested in whether or not my friend is okay. Now tell me that he is."

Mabel's demeanor didn't surprise Dipper. He was at least relieved to know one person in the family had the capacity to care about people, and not just in a way that benefited themselves.

"Oh, I sent him on a detour. He'll be occupied for a while. Just long enough for me to explain all this and leave with your brother."

Dipper finally registered this news. "Leave? Where?"

"You aren't going anywhere with him!" Stan exclaimed. "Dipper, don't listen to him."

"Okay," he said. "I'll just trust you, who tried to _kill_ your brother, _stole_ nuclear waste, _lied_ to me all summer, and turned my sister _against_ me. Definitely, I'd love to go back to the Mystery Shack after this, get some Pitt Cola, and have a water balloon fight."

"Dipper, I'm not against you!" Mabel stormed past Bill and grabbed her brother's hand again. "We're all on the same team, aren't we? We're... we're family, Dipper. There are memories you can't ignore. You know that Stan loves us, right? He does! Please, we just have to hear it from him."

"I'm sure he loved his brother, too," said Dipper coldly. He retracted his hand from Mabel and stepped back behind Bill.

The Dreamer smiled, laying a hand in Dipper's shoulder, ignoring the way he tensed at the touch. "Are we done here?"

"You don't know what you're doing, Dipper," Stanley said gravely. "You're about to make the biggest mistake of your life. Stan has done terrible things-"

"Hey!" Stan protested. "Whose side are you on?"

"But he isn't heartless. Listen to your sister, if you won't listen to either of us."

Dipper looked at Mabel. She was smiling, faltering, holding out her hand to him. He stared at Stan, whose jaw was clenched, resolute, preparing himself for what was to come. Stanley was devoid of emotion, a passive bystander, he knew that he couldn't impact his decision.

Dipper thought of the journal, tucked away in Stanley's cloak. He thought to the first pages he had ever read.

Trust no one.

"Mabel," he said softly. "I can trust you. Right?"

Tears welled over in her eyes and she thrust her hand out, more desperate than ever. "Of course you can, Dip. I'm your sister." She clenched her hand into a small fist. Shakily, she said, "Mystery Twins?"

He looked between Bill and his sister. He laughed quietly. "Mystery Twins." Dipper bumped his fist with Mabel's and the blue flames finally receded. But he didn't step any closer to her. When she tried moving toward him, in fact, he backed away from her and closer to Bill.

Mabel frowned at him. "Dipper...?"

She noticed his other hand, finally. It hung at his side, his fingers gently crossed. "I guess brothers doing this kind of thing runs in the family," he said.

He grabbed Bill's hand and the world around him went dark. Screams echoed in the air. He wasn't sure if it was Stan or Mabel or some other unknown force inside Dipper's head, crying out in protest. He just tried to block it out.

Dipper stared at the darkness ahead of him. Everything around him was coated in an inky blackness. Tendrils of shadow flickered around his feet, much like the demonic flame from earlier. He looked up at Bill, the only light for miles softly emanating from his uncovered eye. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm just holding up my end of the deal," the Dreamer replied. "Don't leave my side. The Dreamscape is dangerous. It's no place for a mortal."

"I'm not mortal, though, am I?" Dipper laughed. The trembling in his hand got worse. His whole body began to shake. He felt weak and scared, second-guessing himself and his decisions. Perhaps he should've gone back with his family.

"It's too late to turn back," Bill said, perhaps reading his thoughts. "All you can do now is make the most of this. Come on." He tugged gently on Dipper's hand and began to walk into the darkness.

"For the record, I don't trust you." Dipper felt as though he had to make the point of saying that.

"Good instincts," Bill replied with a smirk. "I wouldn't trust me, either."

Despite it all, Dipper smiled as he descended into the dark, holding Bill's hand tightly, and listening to thump of their footsteps and the rhythmic thump of Bill's cane at odd intervals.


End file.
